Pre-K-12 Curriculum and Instruction - Mathematics (K-5)

The Georgia Mathematics Curriculum focuses on actively engaging students in the development of mathematical understanding. Students explore math concepts by using manipulatives to understand the number system and to solve problems. Students use a variety of representations, work independently and cooperatively to solve problems. Students will estimate and compute efficiently. There is a shift towards applying mathematical concepts and skills in the context of authentic problems and for the student to understand concepts rather than merely follow a sequence of procedures. Implementation of Georgia Standards of Excellence places a greater emphasis on problem solving, reasoning, representation, connections, and communication.

Georgia has two kinds of standards: Standards for Mathematical Content and Standards for Mathematical Practice. These two types of standards ensure that students not only learn how to compute, but can also reason and solve problems.

The Standards for Mathematical Content offer a balanced combination of procedure and understanding.

The Standards for Mathematical Practice represent the habits and attitudes of mathematical thinkers and are integral to the superstructure of GSE mathematics. The practice standards define the way knowledge comes together and is used by students. The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe the expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students. The practices are as follows:

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them;
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively;
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others;
• Model with mathematics;
• Use appropriate tools strategically;
• Attend to precision;
• Look for and make use of structure;
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Mathematics Georgia Standards of Excellence